State Briefs 11/25/08

Tuesday

Nov 25, 2008 at 12:01 AMNov 25, 2008 at 8:03 PM

State Briefs 11/25/08

Man escapes from Winnebago County justice center

ROCKFORD — Police are looking for a 22-year-old Rockford man who walked out of a police interview room in the Winnebago County Criminal Justice Center early Tuesday morning after being picked up for driving under the influence and possessing a stolen vehicle.

Police say Steven E. Szatek was not handcuffed when a Belvidere police officer, a member of the Northern Illinois Auto Theft Task Force, left the interview room for a brief time.

Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Chief Dominic Iasparro said the officer left the room to obtain information about the case. The room was empty when the officer returned, Iasparro said.

Police believe Szatek walked down a hallway and into a stairwell, went down the stairs into the basement of the justice center and exited a door to the outside.

Rockford Register Star

Mortgage company agrees to $11 million payment to government

CHICAGO — A Canadian bank holding company agreed to pay the United States nearly $11 million because of a mortgage-fraud ring operating at a subsidiary in Rockford, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

RBC Mortgage Co. is a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Canada. RBC Mortgage had lending offices throughout the United States, including in Rockford, which operated under its former name of Prism Mortgage.

A joint investigation by the department of justice and HUD’s office of inspector general revealed three Prism Mortgage loan officers and 22 other defendants, from February 2001 through April 2004 made 219 loans in Rockford and Freeport based on false or fraudulent statements to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development regarding the borrower’s credit, employment or source of equity.

All 219 loans, which were backed by HUD, ended up in foreclosure. RBC Mortgage has not originated a mortgage loan since September 2005 and all 25 defendants in the case were convicted on federal charges.

RBC Mortgage agreed to pay the U.S. $10.7 million to settle the charges under the federal False Claims Act plus an additional $264,000 to settle other claims against it.